The PM didn’t say this – but she should

We will see. The Conservative Party positioning on the hobby of driven grouse shooting is currently pretty much unreservedly in favour of it and apologists for it. When Defra, under the previous Prime Minister of course, responded to our e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting after it passed 10,000 signatures, the then minister at Defra,…

Therese Coffey left to pick up the pieces

The outgoing Defra ministers of Liz Truss and Rory Stewart, most particularly the latter, bear much of the responsibility for the shambles that is the government approach to Hen Harrier conservation in England. After today’s withdrawal of the RSPB from the hopeless Defra Hen Harrier Inaction Plan – because it is already clear that it…

Truss’s troubles

Schadenfreude is an unworthy feeling, but the fact that the Germans have a word for it and we do not is entirely to their credit, for it is a common human emotion. I thought we had seen the end of mentions of the hopeless Liz Truss on this blog as she exited to the Ministry…

The science about which Truss misled us

In a slightly shocking move last week (though I am not easily shocked) Liz Truss (formerly of Defra) announced she was not taking any notice of the report of the Lead Ammunition Group report (now published in full). She announced this after sitting on the report for 14 months, on the day a PM resigned…

All change at Defra – not quite

And so we say farewell to Liz Truss and Rory Stewart – both of whom were promoted in Theresa May’s reshuffle.  Truss remains in the Cabinet and got the bigger job in Justice (never has a promotion been so unjust) and Rory Stewart is made Minister of State at International Development. Only George Eustice, the…

Truss misleads over waterfowl science

There is a very good article in today’s Times by Ben Webster with the headline ‘Lead ammunition to stay despite poisoning danger‘. Liz Truss, perhaps as one of her last acts, and indeed one of her first (as the least effective Environment Secretary ever), announced that people shooting birds for fun would not be required…

Time for a reshuffle then…

Who would you like as the next Secretary of State for Defra? Who would you hate getting as Secretary of State for Defra? Who do you expect to get as Secretary of State for Defra?   I really find it very difficult to answer any of those questions. That’s why I thought I’d ask for…

Best and worst at Defra – what you think

There have been six secretaries of state at Defra since it came into existence in the wake of the foot and mouth disease outbreak in 2001. Defra was born out of the thought that MAFF was too inward-looking and that farming wasn’t that important really but was a bit of a problem.  Prime Ministers also…